


we go together

by alltoowheeler



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Brotp, Chaptered, Coming Out, Other, a lotta bad unedited pointless fluff but here ya go, bayfield!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-11 23:41:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltoowheeler/pseuds/alltoowheeler
Summary: bayfield (will and max brotp!) best friends fluff! lots of credit and love to cherrymayfield on tumblr





	1. part one

The doorbell rang once, twice, four times in a row. Will walked towards the door nervously as it continued ringing and turned the knob carefully; half-expecting a monster, even though he knew that was ridiculous. Sort of.

He opened the door a crack and felt blinded by the fall sunshine glancing off bright red hair. He should have known.

“Hey!” Max said, pushing the door open farther. “What took you so long?”

“Nothing,” Will said, wiping his palms on his jeans.

“Mmm.” Max glanced at him knowingly. She could read him as well as Mike or El sometimes. “What movie did you pick?”

“Oh,” he said. He’d forgotten it was movie day. “Um, let me see what we have…” He went to the living room and looked through the small stack of rental movies. “Grease again?”

“That has to be overdue by now,” Max said, popping a stick of gum into her mouth.

“Probably,” Will shrugged. They’d watched it twice in the last few weeks, but Will couldn’t bring himself to take it back to the Blockbuster.

“Eh, let’s watch it anyway,” Max said. She combed her fingers through her hair as Will put the VCR into the player. “I still think I’d make an excellent T-Bird.”

“Mhm,” Will said as he turned on the TV and the opening credits blared to life.

“You don’t believe me, do you?!” Max gasped dramatically.

“You’d make a better Pink Lady,” Will teased.

“How dare you,” she cried, throwing a pillow at his head. “The treachery!”

“Help! Save me!” Will said, getting up. “I’m gonna get some juice.”

“Mkay,” Max said, watching Danny and Sandy splash each other at the beach onscreen.

Will grabbed a jar of orange juice from the fridge and came back to the living room with two glasses. “Want me to braid your hair?”

“Yes,” Max said, shifting to the floor so Will could reach her head.

The movie lasted late into the afternoon, though Will didn’t notice the time pass. They sang along to every word, Will a bit reluctantly at first, but eventually standing on the couch with Max to perform a stirring duet of There Are Worse Things I Could Do. They finished the movie dancing along with the actors, singing along to We Go Together as loud as they could. They collapsed on the couch, gulping orange juice, as Danny and Sandy drove into the sunset. 

“Shit, we’re out,” Max panted, clunking her empty glass down on the coffee table. She twisted the end of her braid between her fingers. “Who’s your favorite character?”

“Um…“ Will thought for a moment. He liked Danny. He liked Frenchie, too, but it was different. Watching Danny made him feel almost like he did around Mike. But he couldn’t tell Max that, he guessed. "Frenchie.”

“Good choice,” Max nodded.

“Who’s yours?”

“Riz. Obviously.“

“See, you would be a Pink Lady,” Will smiled. Max swatted him with the pillow.

“God, I’m glad it’s Friday,” she said. “Junior year sucks shit.”

“You always think school sucks shit,” Will said.

“That’s because it does,” Max smiled. She inhaled, then hesitated. "Will?”

“Yeah?”

“…Never mind.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Okay…”

“I just– I need you to know I won’t ever judge you, okay? About anything.” She spit the words out quickly, like they hurt.

“O-okay,” Will said. Max never did ‘feelings’. He wondered if she knew something about– him. How he felt about Mike. Or Danny Zuko, for that matter. Boys. His fingers tapped nervously on his leg.

“Good.” Max seemed to close the conversation. “…You want another round of Greased Lightning?”

“Sure,” Will said. She got up and rewound the tape, the tension dissolving from the room. They turned the TV up and their voices carried through the house, Chester occasionally barking in harmony. Go, greased lightning, go…

\----

“Hey, Max.”

Max turned around and saw Troy coming down the hall towards her. She resisted rolling her eyes. “What do you want?”

“Hey, no need to get touchy. Just asking you out,” he smirked, leaning against the locker next to hers.

“Oh gosh, sorry, I can’t, I’m–” Max paused, blanking on snarky responses. “I’m dating… Will Byers?” Shit. Shit shit. That was bad that was really fucking bad–

“Byers? That fag?” Troy scoffed. “You deserve a real man, Mayfield. I can do that for you.” He tried and failed to wink.

“I’m flattered.” Max grabbed her bag from her locker and walked as fast as she could in the other direction before she could punch him. She didn’t need to deal with another detention.

“Call me!” she heard Troy yell after her. She let herself roll her eyes before quickly sinking into a state of panic. She had just told Troy she was dating Will. Of all people. And if Troy knew, the whole school would know. Fuck. She didn’t even like Will. She didn’t even like boys. Fuck fuck fuck.

There was a reason she’d broken up with Lucas in freshman year. A reason she’d never dated anyone else, a reason she’d kept away from the myriad cliques of girls at Hawkins High. She wasn’t like them. She couldn’t talk about boys and dates and who got to third base. She couldn’t be normal. And now she’d fucked up the loner reputation that protected her secret and dragged Will in with her, all in one stupid sentence.

Just a few days ago she’d almost told him. That she was gay, or lesbian, or whatever. A queer. A fag. She’d hoped he’d understand. He always seemed to. Instead she’d told him she wouldn’t judge him– which was true. She didn’t want to be judged, and she didn’t want to judge him. Whatever friends were for, that wasn’t it. And friends definitely didn’t drag friends into their stupid problems and stupider decisions and– “Shit!”

Max slammed into someone. Someone slight. A bit shorter than her. Wearing a sweater. Fuck.

“Are you okay?” Will asked, concern in his eyes. Max hurriedly wiped away the tears she hadn’t noticed falling.

“Yep, fine, everything’s fine.” She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her sleeve.

“Max.” He stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just–” she looked around. The crush of students around them was suffocating. “Can we go to my car for a minute?”

“Yeah,” Will said softly, following her outside to the car. Steve’s old car, actually, which he’d given to her when he left for college. She slid into the driver’s seat, Will climbing into the passenger side.

“So.” Will tapped his toes on the dashboard. “What’s the matter? Something’s up.” He didn’t sound impatient, just… listening. Like he always was. She loved that about him.

“Pfffffft.” Max twisted the ends of her hair in her fingers. “So Troy asked me out–” she couldn’t seem to get any farther.

“Are you going?” Will asked, bug-eyed.

“No! Who do you think I am, Byers?” She laughed, then sighed. “I didn’t know what to say, so I– I told him I was dating you.”

“Oh.” Will sat in silence for a moment, his toes tapping.

“Not like, I like you or anything, I mean I do, but not–” she stuttered.

“No, it’s okay. I get it,” said Will.

“I mean, I can’t like you, actually, because–” God, what was she doing, was she really going to say it– “I like girls, Will.” Shit. She screwed her eyes shut, leaning her head against the steering wheel. “Shit.”

Will didn’t say anything. Fuck, you really did it, Mayfield, he thinks you’re disgusting, he’ll get out of the car any minute and go tell the whole school, hey, Max is gay– She lifted her head cautiously.

Will was looking out the window, away from her. God, he’s disgusted, you fucked it up– he turned to face her and her train of thought stopped. She’d never seen that look on his face before. He was almost smiling, but not quite, with tears forming in his eyes.

“I am, too,” he said, so softly she could barely hear. “Gay, I mean.”

Max felt dizzy. “You’re–”

Will nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Yeah, I– I like… Mike, actually.” He laughed, sounding close to tears again.

“Mike,” Max whispered. Duh. How stupid could she be? How many times had she noticed Will watching Mike, drawing him, melting into his hugs? Not enough times, obviously. “For how long?”

“Long time,” he said, looking at his hands. “Since we were– little.”

“Wow,” Max said. “Does he–?”

“He doesn’t know,” said Will. He shook his head. “How long have you known you– you know.”

“A couple years, maybe,” she said, her head still spinning. “I thought I liked Lucas, but I didn’t. Not like that.”

“That’s why you broke up,” Will said. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” said Max. She sighed, then looked up and met Will’s eyes. They both burst out in giggles. Max couldn’t tell if she was crying from laughing so hard or from… this. Whatever had just happened. She wiped her nose, her giggles subsiding.

Will laughed weakly. “We’re fucking messes, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Max laughed. “Gay fucking messes.” They started laughing again.

Max glanced at the clock. “Wanna skip?” she asked, expecting the usual firm 'no’.

“…Sure,” Will said. She blinked. “Let’s just drive somewhere. Anywhere.”

Max smiled, starting the car. “Sounds good to me.”


	2. part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oof short chapter of even more pointless fluff!!!! featuring skateboarding, makeup, and demon rabbits (credit and love to cherrymayfield on tumblr)

“Just step on, it’s not that hard,” said Max. Will stepped onto her skateboard and stood shakily, holding onto her shoulder. He looked around the park at the red and orange leaves as she kept talking about balance and pushoff. He would much rather be sketching her skateboarding than trying it himself.  
“Okay, go,” he said. Before he could take a breath, Max had pushed him and he was rolling down the sidewalk at the speed of light. Actually, it was slower than walking. But much more terrifying. He attempted to swerve around a patch of weeds in the middle of the sidewalk and fell over onto the grass. “Jesus Christ.”  
Max walked up to him, smirking. “Nice.”  
Will glared at her, rubbing his elbow. He glanced off towards the sidewalk and spotted Mike and El walking in the opposite direction. Holding hands. Fuck. Mike's hair bounced lightly as he walked, the September sun glinting on it. Will sighed and looked up at Max. Her eyes were fixed on El’s back as she chewed on her lip.  
“So what are we gonna do about Troy?” he asked, changing the subject.   
Max frowned, turning back towards him. “I dunno.” She sat on the grass next to him. “I mean, I told him I’m surprised he hasn’t told everyone else yet. It’s been a few days.”  
“Are you sure he will?”   
Max raised an eyebrow.  
“...Okay, yeah.” Will pulled a pencil from his pocket. Miraculously, it wasn't broken. He picked up the skateboard and started doodling on the bottom. “What if we just… let him tell them? Go along with it?”  
“Like, pretend we’re dating?” said Max. “Hm. We’d avoid anyone else asking us out.” She glanced at him. “Not that that’s an issue for some of us.”  
“Rude,” Will said, shoving her as she giggled. He turned back to his drawing.   
“What's that?” Max asked, peering over his arm.   
“Um…” Will stopped drawing and looked at what his half-mindless doodle. “A rabbit? Sort of?”  
“It's a demon rabbit,” Max said, pulling the skateboard towards her. “Why did you draw a demon rabbit?”  
“I don't know!” Will said. “It's just what I drew!”  
“He’s amazing,” Max stated. “I'm naming him Topher.”  
“Topher,” said Will.   
“I hear that judging tone! You'll hurt Topher’s feelings!” said Max, covering the drawing’s-- Topher’s-- ears.   
“Okay, okay,” Will said. “Topher.” He smiled, rolling his eyes. “So should we?”  
“Yeah, I guess,” Max said, becoming serious again. “So.” She stuck out her hand. “Hi, platonic fake boyfriend.”  
“Hi, platonic fake girlfriend,” said Will, shaking her hand.   
“That’s so weird,” Max shivered. She thought a minute. “Hey, Topher can be our fake-relationship mascot!”  
“That's… terrifying, but okay,” said Will.   
“He's growing on you, I can tell,” said Max.   
“Maybe a little,” Will admitted.   
Max smirked and stood up. “Let's try skating again.”  
“Nooooo,” Will whined as she grabbed his hands and pulled him up.  
“You didn't think you could distract me forever, did you?” she said. “Try a few more times.”  
“Only if I can teach you how to draw,” Will teased, stepping back onto the skateboard.   
“God,” said Max. “Fine.”  
“Really?” Will said.   
“Yes, just skate, dumbass,” she smiled, pushing him again.   
“I’ll teach you to draw Topher!” Will called back to her as he rolled down the sidewalk again. He tentatively lowered his foot and pushed off, going faster. It was actually kind of fun. He looked around at the sunshiny park; he’d draw it later. “Race you home!”

\----

“Ooh, what's all this?” Max said, looking down at the couch as the TV blasted Grease behind her.   
“...It's my mom’s,” Will said, spreading out the tubes of lipstick and eyeliner. “It's old, but I… I kind of wanted to try some.”   
Max glanced at him. “Do you know how to put it on yourself?” She picked up a tube of lipstick, noticing Will’s shoulders visibly relax. “Hey. I said I wouldn't judge you, right? Still applies. Makeup’s cool, anyway.”  
“Um…” Will scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I don't know how.”  
“Hm.” Max inspected the lipstick. “My mom showed me how once. It was a long time ago, though.”  
“And you probably tried to forget it all, right?” Will grinned.   
“Well, what else was a skater tomboy to do? I couldn't know how to wear makeup,” Max said sarcastically. She thought a moment. “I guess you could put some on me to practice.”  
“Really?” Will smiled, immediately picking up lipsticks and testing the colors against Max’s skin. “This one’s good.”  
“You're such an artist, they all look the same to me.”  
“Max. This one is red. This one’s pink.”  
“I know that, why does it matter which one?”  
“Your skin has more red tones so-- fft, never mind.”  
Max heard a song start on the TV and twisted around to look. “Hey, it's your song.”  
Will glanced at the TV. “Beauty School Dropout. Very funny,” he said, laughing anyway.   
The door opened suddenly and Joyce came in, carrying grocery bags. “Oh, hi, guys,” she said, almost tripping on Chester.   
“Here, let me,” Will said, hopping up and taking the bags.   
“Thanks, honey,” Joyce said. “How are you, Max?”  
“Pretty good,” said Max, conscious of her half-made up face. “How are you?”  
“Oh, I’m alright,” Joyce said. “You guys look like you're having fun.” She turned back to Will. “Would you help me put these away really quick?”  
“Sure,” Will followed her into the kitchen with the bags. Max kept watching the movie, trying not to eavesdrop, though the kitchen was so close she heard everything without trying.   
“How was work?” she heard Will ask as cabinet doors opened and closed.   
“Oh, it was okay,” Joyce sighed. “Customers, you know, always upset with something.” She paused. “So are you and Max… um, dating?”  
Max snorted and clapped a hand over her mouth.   
“Um.” Will casually walked by the kitchen door and looked at Max, bug-eyed. She nodded, trying not to laugh. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”  
He was a horrible liar, but Joyce didn't seem to notice. “Okay, good, good,” she said, sorting food in the fridge. “Okay.”  
Will looked back at Max, miming a scream. He turned back to his mom. “Yup. Can I go watch now?”  
“Yeah, of course, I'm done,” she turned around and kissed his head. “I'm gonna go take a nap.”  
“Okay,” Will said, walking back into the living room as Joyce headed to the back of the house. He sat back down next to Max. “Oh my god.”  
“That was the funniest thing,” Max snickered. Will smacked her leg. “So we're officially fake dating.”  
“Yeah.” Will shivered. “It's so weird.”  
“Yeah.” Max sighed, watching the dancers onscreen. “Hey, do you have a Halloween costume already?”  
“Nope,” said Will, popping the lid on and off an eyeliner.   
Max smiled. “Guess what I think we should be.”  
“Do I want to know?”  
“Absolutely,” she said, pointing at the screen. Dancing and singing in the funhouse were Danny and Bad Sandy.   
“Oh no,” Will groaned.   
“Oh yes,” Max said.  
Will paused. “That would be kind of fun, actually.”  
“See?” Max poked him. “We're doing it, okay? We can go to the Salvation Army this weekend and find clothes. Or maybe Nancy has something. Promise?”  
“Fine,” Will smiled. “Let's do it.”  
“Yesssss,” Max said. She hummed quietly along to the song. “We go together… Oh, we gotta learn the dance, too.”  
“I can't dance,” said Will.   
“You learned how to skateboard, didn't you?”  
“That's different.”  
“You'd be surprised.”  
“...Fine.”  
Max grinned. “Perfect.”


End file.
